External Hard-Drive Not Working Properly

I bought a hard-drive which connects through USB. Although it works fine with Windows 2000 and Millennium, on my Windows XP Professional computer I get this error:Whenever I connect it and I try to copy/move files (either from the external hard-drive to the internal hard-drive, or from the internal hard-drive to the external hard-drive), it tells me that it cannot copy <name of file> because it cannot find the file specified. And then I get a 'Windows Delayed Write Failed' message. And I cannot move anything, even though the computer sees the hard-drive just fine.

From what I understood from the Internet, I presume it might be a security issue. But I'll be damned if I know how to fix it.

Does the drive show up in MyComputer with a Letter assigned to it. If not rt click MyComputer>select Manage>Disk Management>External Drive. Rt click and assign a drive letter to it."Swordlord" <Swordlord@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:8B7F283C-A81F-4E5C-B7D0-176A91DE89BA@microsoft.com...> Could anyone help me with the following issue, please?>> I bought a hard-drive which connects through USB. Although it works fine> with Windows 2000 and Millennium, on my Windows XP Professional computer I> get this error:> Whenever I connect it and I try to copy/move files (either from the > external> hard-drive to the internal hard-drive, or from the internal hard-drive to > the> external hard-drive), it tells me that it cannot copy <name of file> > because> it cannot find the file specified. And then I get a 'Windows Delayed Write> Failed' message. And I cannot move anything, even though the computer sees> the hard-drive just fine.>> From what I understood from the Internet, I presume it might be a security> issue. But I'll be damned if I know how to fix it.>> Can anyone help me, please?

No, that's not the problem. It does show up in Windows Explorer and in My Computer as drives F: and G: (I made two partitions, a FAT32 one and a NTFS one, that's why). C: is the local hard-drive and D: and E: are DVD-RW and CD-ROM.

But anyway, so they show up as normal, but the thing is if I copy something from the external HDD (F: or G:) and try to paste it onto the internal HDD (C:) -- or the other way, from the internal to the external -- I get this error message as soon as the bar which indicates the process of transferring files shows the first green line. [You see what I'm trying to say, right?]

The error messages I get are:-->first, I get a pop-up error message with the red X thing, saying:"Cannot copy <the file name is supposed to be here>. Cannot find the file specified."-->then, I get this yellow dialog box, popping up from the bottom of the screen, where a yellow triangle with a black exclamation sign also appears:"Windows - Delayed Write Failed:Windows was unable to save all the data for the file G:\$Mft. The data has been lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware or network connection. Please try to save this file elsewhere."

So, it wants to copy/move the files, but it cannot, for some strange reason. Also, if I try to use Nero or Media Player for the files on the external hard-drive, those programs also fail, because they cannot use the files on the external hard-drive. Why is that?

Write caching is disabled, so that's not it. At first, it was enabled, but even after I disabled it the problem kept persisting.

Could anyone help me on this, please? PLEASE!--

"Rich Barry" wrote:

> Does the drive show up in MyComputer with a Letter assigned to it. If > not rt click MyComputer>select Manage>Disk> Management>External Drive. Rt click and assign a drive letter to it.> "Swordlord" <Swordlord@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message > news:8B7F283C-A81F-4E5C-B7D0-176A91DE89BA@microsoft.com...> > Could anyone help me with the following issue, please?> >> > I bought a hard-drive which connects through USB. Although it works fine> > with Windows 2000 and Millennium, on my Windows XP Professional computer I> > get this error:> > Whenever I connect it and I try to copy/move files (either from the > > external> > hard-drive to the internal hard-drive, or from the internal hard-drive to > > the> > external hard-drive), it tells me that it cannot copy <name of file> > > because> > it cannot find the file specified. And then I get a 'Windows Delayed Write> > Failed' message. And I cannot move anything, even though the computer sees> > the hard-drive just fine.> >> > From what I understood from the Internet, I presume it might be a security> > issue. But I'll be damned if I know how to fix it.> >> > Can anyone help me, please? > > >

I get nothing but problems when I partition a USB hard drive. If youabsolutely MUST use it on multiple PC's, stick with fat32 (and live with the4gb file size limit.)

"Swordlord" <Swordlord@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in messagenews:D8E6F544-8B87-4848-BA05-747B652A58A6@microsoft.com...> Hi.>> No, that's not the problem. It does show up in Windows Explorer and in My> Computer as drives F: and G: (I made two partitions, a FAT32 one and aNTFS> one, that's why). C: is the local hard-drive and D: and E: are DVD-RW and> CD-ROM.>> But anyway, so they show up as normal, but the thing is if I copysomething> from the external HDD (F: or G:) and try to paste it onto the internal HDD> (C:) -- or the other way, from the internal to the external -- I get this> error message as soon as the bar which indicates the process oftransferring> files shows the first green line. [You see what I'm trying to say, right?]>> The error messages I get are:> -->first, I get a pop-up error message with the red X thing, saying:> "Cannot copy <the file name is supposed to be here>. Cannot find the file> specified."> -->then, I get this yellow dialog box, popping up from the bottom of the> screen, where a yellow triangle with a black exclamation sign alsoappears:> "Windows - Delayed Write Failed:> Windows was unable to save all the data for the file G:\$Mft. The data has> been lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer hardwareor> network connection. Please try to save this file elsewhere.">> So, it wants to copy/move the files, but it cannot, for some strangereason.> Also, if I try to use Nero or Media Player for the files on the external> hard-drive, those programs also fail, because they cannot use the files on> the external hard-drive. Why is that?>> Write caching is disabled, so that's not it. At first, it was enabled, but> even after I disabled it the problem kept persisting.>> Could anyone help me on this, please? PLEASE!> -- >> "Rich Barry" wrote:>> > Does the drive show up in MyComputer with a Letter assigned to it.If> > not rt click MyComputer>select Manage>Disk> > Management>External Drive. Rt click and assign a drive letter to it.> > "Swordlord" <Swordlord@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message> > news:8B7F283C-A81F-4E5C-B7D0-176A91DE89BA@microsoft.com...> > > Could anyone help me with the following issue, please?> > >> > > I bought a hard-drive which connects through USB. Although it worksfine> > > with Windows 2000 and Millennium, on my Windows XP Professionalcomputer I> > > get this error:> > > Whenever I connect it and I try to copy/move files (either from the> > > external> > > hard-drive to the internal hard-drive, or from the internal hard-driveto> > > the> > > external hard-drive), it tells me that it cannot copy <name of file>> > > because> > > it cannot find the file specified. And then I get a 'Windows DelayedWrite> > > Failed' message. And I cannot move anything, even though the computersees> > > the hard-drive just fine.> > >> > > From what I understood from the Internet, I presume it might be asecurity> > > issue. But I'll be damned if I know how to fix it.> > >> > > Can anyone help me, please?> >> >> >

Do you have WinUpdate SP2 installed? Are you using a PCI USB2 Card or do you have a direct connection USB2 on the Motherboard?

"Swordlord" <Swordlord@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:8B7F283C-A81F-4E5C-B7D0-176A91DE89BA@microsoft.com...> Could anyone help me with the following issue, please?>> I bought a hard-drive which connects through USB. Although it works fine> with Windows 2000 and Millennium, on my Windows XP Professional computer I> get this error:> Whenever I connect it and I try to copy/move files (either from the > external> hard-drive to the internal hard-drive, or from the internal hard-drive to > the> external hard-drive), it tells me that it cannot copy <name of file> > because> it cannot find the file specified. And then I get a 'Windows Delayed Write> Failed' message. And I cannot move anything, even though the computer sees> the hard-drive just fine.>> From what I understood from the Internet, I presume it might be a security> issue. But I'll be damned if I know how to fix it.>> Can anyone help me, please?

Treeman, thank you very much, I will try the 2 suggested solutions from your link. (I already disabled write caching, so the third suggested solution on that page is not good for me. But hopefully the other two...) I'll let you know if they helped. Thanks again.

Rich Barry, I am quite sure I do not have the SP2 update. But I haven't needed it so far. And besides, that computer of mine is not connected to the Internet. I use it for my work, and I am afraid of possible Internet infections. So, how would I be able to get the SP2 without being connected to the Internet, and do I really need it? (Will it help my problem, I mean? -- 'Cause otherwise I'm set.)About the USB question -- I have USB 1.1 ports, not 2.0. Other than that, I have no idea how to reply to your question.

Rube, the FAT32 partition also gives me problems. For me, I don't think the partition is causing the issue.

Thanks again, all. Talk to you later.

"Rube" wrote:

> I get nothing but problems when I partition a USB hard drive. If you> absolutely MUST use it on multiple PC's, stick with fat32 (and live with the> 4gb file size limit.)> > "Swordlord" <Swordlord@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message> news:D8E6F544-8B87-4848-BA05-747B652A58A6@microsoft.com...> > Hi.> >> > No, that's not the problem. It does show up in Windows Explorer and in My> > Computer as drives F: and G: (I made two partitions, a FAT32 one and a> NTFS> > one, that's why). C: is the local hard-drive and D: and E: are DVD-RW and> > CD-ROM.> >> > But anyway, so they show up as normal, but the thing is if I copy> something> > from the external HDD (F: or G:) and try to paste it onto the internal HDD> > (C:) -- or the other way, from the internal to the external -- I get this> > error message as soon as the bar which indicates the process of> transferring> > files shows the first green line. [You see what I'm trying to say, right?]> >> > The error messages I get are:> > -->first, I get a pop-up error message with the red X thing, saying:> > "Cannot copy <the file name is supposed to be here>. Cannot find the file> > specified."> > -->then, I get this yellow dialog box, popping up from the bottom of the> > screen, where a yellow triangle with a black exclamation sign also> appears:> > "Windows - Delayed Write Failed:> > Windows was unable to save all the data for the file G:\$Mft. The data has> > been lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware> or> > network connection. Please try to save this file elsewhere."> >> > So, it wants to copy/move the files, but it cannot, for some strange> reason.> > Also, if I try to use Nero or Media Player for the files on the external> > hard-drive, those programs also fail, because they cannot use the files on> > the external hard-drive. Why is that?> >> > Write caching is disabled, so that's not it. At first, it was enabled, but> > even after I disabled it the problem kept persisting.> >> > Could anyone help me on this, please? PLEASE!> > -- > >> > "Rich Barry" wrote:> >> > > Does the drive show up in MyComputer with a Letter assigned to it.> If> > > not rt click MyComputer>select Manage>Disk> > > Management>External Drive. Rt click and assign a drive letter to it.> > > "Swordlord" <Swordlord@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message> > > news:8B7F283C-A81F-4E5C-B7D0-176A91DE89BA@microsoft.com...> > > > Could anyone help me with the following issue, please?> > > >> > > > I bought a hard-drive which connects through USB. Although it works> fine> > > > with Windows 2000 and Millennium, on my Windows XP Professional> computer I> > > > get this error:> > > > Whenever I connect it and I try to copy/move files (either from the> > > > external> > > > hard-drive to the internal hard-drive, or from the internal hard-drive> to> > > > the> > > > external hard-drive), it tells me that it cannot copy <name of file>> > > > because> > > > it cannot find the file specified. And then I get a 'Windows Delayed> Write> > > > Failed' message. And I cannot move anything, even though the computer> sees> > > > the hard-drive just fine.> > > >> > > > From what I understood from the Internet, I presume it might be a> security> > > > issue. But I'll be damned if I know how to fix it.> > > >> > > > Can anyone help me, please?> > >> > >> > >> > >

I tried those 2 things, Treeman, and no luck! The thing with having the 'Programs' option checked was already enabled, and I also tried the 0xFFFFFFFF thing, but I still get the same error. (I also just noticed that if I select the option View>Thumbnails, and I try to let the thumbnails load, in a specific folder on the external hard-drive, I still get the 'Windows - Delayed Write Failed Message', but the partition where that folder is located (G:\, for the folder I tried) disappears, so I can't see the G: drive in 'My Computer' anymore. It does appear again if I reboot, but it's as if the folders that are on the hard-drive were empty.God damn the Microsoft morons who are responsible for this problem!

Also, before I try that program you suggested, could you please tell me what happens if the answer to your question about the VIA chipset drivers is 'yes', and what happens if the answer is 'no'? I'd like to figure out if I still have a chance to solve this problem, because otherwise I would be quite reluctant to install some software I practically know nothing about, and which can do so many low-level tests on my computer. (You understand, I just don't want to mess yet another thing up.)

No offense, but I think the discussion is going towards a dead end here. Even if I find out what motherboard I have, etc., here's the thing: THE HDD IS SUPPOSED TO WORK WITH ALL COMPUTERS! What difference does it make what motherboard I have?

I can tell you what I know:--I know that the cable of the external hard-drive converts from IDE to USB.--I know that I have 1 internal hard-drive, 1 DVD-RW and 1 CD-ROM--From the BIOS settings, I found out that Primary Master is the internal HDD, Primary Slave is 'Not Detected', Secondary Master is the DVD-RW and Secondary Slave is the CD-ROM. The rest (Third Master and Slave) are also 'Not Detected'.

Can anyone help me, given that information?

Maybe someone has a BIOS configuration I could use. I would be glad to try to change those settings, because I know I can change them back.

Thanks in advance.

"Swordlord" wrote:

> Could anyone help me with the following issue, please?> > I bought a hard-drive which connects through USB. Although it works fine > with Windows 2000 and Millennium, on my Windows XP Professional computer I > get this error:> Whenever I connect it and I try to copy/move files (either from the external > hard-drive to the internal hard-drive, or from the internal hard-drive to the > external hard-drive), it tells me that it cannot copy <name of file> because > it cannot find the file specified. And then I get a 'Windows Delayed Write > Failed' message. And I cannot move anything, even though the computer sees > the hard-drive just fine.> > From what I understood from the Internet, I presume it might be a security > issue. But I'll be damned if I know how to fix it.> > Can anyone help me, please?

Hi Swordlord,This is the reason why I asked if your pci card or onboard USBcontroller is run using VIA chipsets."The following Tips and Tricks will optimize your chances of achievingproper connectivity with VIA based USB chipsets."Everest Home Edition is a standard informational tool, used to discoverwhat is inside the box, you don't need to run the benchmarks.Seems that MS & VIA had some licensing issues for USB, that said if youdo have VIA USB chipsets, I'll direct you here where you can read allabout it.You can then decide for yourself what is the best tack to take.'VIA USB Tips, Tricks and Troubleshooting'(http://www.usbman.com/Guides/VIA%20Tips%20and%20Tricks.htm)Hope you get it sorted out.Best,Treeman

Many things are sold to 'work with all systems'. A short experience with computers and you will realise they are not cars or washing machines. They are infinitely variable - No 2 systems are the same, hence we have these fun issues. If every known conflict were noted on the side of the box you would have a big box and no one would buy!

To start with, to use your USB hard drive effectively you can forget it if you have USB 1 ports as these run too slowly to be effective. Should it work with USB 1, ok yes it should and I do have clients that do this, but I wouldnt spend time trying to do that when the outcome will be less than optimal anyway.

USB 2 runs at up to 40 times the speed of USB 1 and to get USB 2 only costs $15 - $20 for a 4-port USB 2 card. Its easy to fit (really) and there isnt anything to configure (you will have to load the driver but XP will detect the card automatically and do that for you usually).

On XP service pack 2 (SP2) this is recommended as it updates a few of the hardware drivers plus lots of other things. You can get it free on CD from Microsoft or get a friend to download it and burn a CD for you. I do recommend you update as it as security and stability features even if you are not on the Internet.

Swordlord wrote:> No offense, but I think the discussion is going towards a dead end here. Even > if I find out what motherboard I have, etc., here's the thing: THE HDD IS > SUPPOSED TO WORK WITH ALL COMPUTERS! What difference does it make what > motherboard I have?> > I can tell you what I know:> --I know that the cable of the external hard-drive converts from IDE to USB.> --I know that I have 1 internal hard-drive, 1 DVD-RW and 1 CD-ROM> --From the BIOS settings, I found out that Primary Master is the internal > HDD, Primary Slave is 'Not Detected', Secondary Master is the DVD-RW and > Secondary Slave is the CD-ROM. The rest (Third Master and Slave) are also > 'Not Detected'.> > Can anyone help me, given that information?> > Maybe someone has a BIOS configuration I could use. I would be glad to try > to change those settings, because I know I can change them back.> > Thanks in advance.> > "Swordlord" wrote:> > >>Could anyone help me with the following issue, please?>>>>I bought a hard-drive which connects through USB. Although it works fine >>with Windows 2000 and Millennium, on my Windows XP Professional computer I >>get this error:>>Whenever I connect it and I try to copy/move files (either from the external >>hard-drive to the internal hard-drive, or from the internal hard-drive to the >>external hard-drive), it tells me that it cannot copy <name of file> because >>it cannot find the file specified. And then I get a 'Windows Delayed Write >>Failed' message. And I cannot move anything, even though the computer sees >>the hard-drive just fine.>>>>From what I understood from the Internet, I presume it might be a security >>issue. But I'll be damned if I know how to fix it.>>>>Can anyone help me, please?

Actually, I thought I had USB 1.1 because whenever I plugged the external HDD I was getting this message: A Hi-Speed device was plugged into a Non-Hi-Speed hub, or something like that.

But, after checking all the BIOS settings, I found out that I do have USB 2.0. I don't know why I get that weird message, but then again the whole thing is weird.

Thank you for the link, Treeman. Maybe I should try the generic BIOS settings first, and then I will download the program and run it. But after I get the information, can you continue to guide me, please? (I probably would get lost by myself, eventually.)

"Treeman" wrote:

> > Hi Swordlord,> This is the reason why I asked if your pci card or onboard USB> controller is run using VIA chipsets.> "The following Tips and Tricks will optimize your chances of achieving> proper connectivity with VIA based USB chipsets."> Everest Home Edition is a standard informational tool, used to discover> what is inside the box, you don't need to run the benchmarks.> Seems that MS & VIA had some licensing issues for USB, that said if you> do have VIA USB chipsets, I'll direct you here where you can read all> about it.> You can then decide for yourself what is the best tack to take.> 'VIA USB Tips, Tricks and Troubleshooting'> (http://www.usbman.com/Guides/VIA%20Tips%20and%20Tricks.htm)> Hope you get it sorted out.> Best,> Treeman> > > -- > Treeman> > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------> Treeman's Profile: http://www.msusenet.com/member.php?userid=1260> View this thread: http://www.msusenet.com/t-1870500794> >

Hi Swordlord,After re-reading your entire post, I must assume your using XP SP1 atleast. SP1 supports USB 2.0 (look in Control Panel, System) It will tell youwhat version of XP is installed. If you do have SP1, the only tweakI've seen work is to delete (uninstall) the USB drivers and let XP SP1re-install them again.This is a wierd problem your having with your external drive. :confused: The only time I got the dreaded "write delay," problem was when I triedto upgrade to SP2. Format & re-install XP SP1; no more delayed writefail messages.Go Figure!Treeman

I have recently added a 160Gb Maxtor 6 P160PO drive (NTFS, write cache off) in an external hi-speed USB housing connected via a 4 port USB-2 card. I have tried copying large amounts of data (13-20Gb) but after a few minutes, I get "The drive is not ready" and it disappears from My Computer. If I disconnect it and re-connect it, it will reappear. The same happended with a 20Gb drive I swapped in, so it seems that it's not the drive. I have tried a different port to no avail. I'm running XP SP2

You can get the data across eventually by copying smaller amounts of data but it seems to do a few Gb at a time. Not sure if there is a 'magic size' at which it fails

Is there a limit of file size or is there anything else I should check? If you can help pls keep it simple as I haven't a clue what a UDMA controller is or how to check the cable. Thanks

"Swordlord" wrote:

> Could anyone help me with the following issue, please?> > I bought a hard-drive which connects through USB. Although it works fine > with Windows 2000 and Millennium, on my Windows XP Professional computer I > get this error:> Whenever I connect it and I try to copy/move files (either from the external > hard-drive to the internal hard-drive, or from the internal hard-drive to the > external hard-drive), it tells me that it cannot copy <name of file> because > it cannot find the file specified. And then I get a 'Windows Delayed Write > Failed' message. And I cannot move anything, even though the computer sees > the hard-drive just fine.> > From what I understood from the Internet, I presume it might be a security > issue. But I'll be damned if I know how to fix it.> > Can anyone help me, please?